


A Whole New Adventure

by soccerislove



Series: Holiday Series [2]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, lots of WAGs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 18:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3082541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soccerislove/pseuds/soccerislove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A New Year's celebration with Germany NT!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Whole New Adventure

The stack of cardboard boxes casts dark shadows in the small room. In any other time and place, Mats would have been slightly creeped out, but not here, not now, not with Benni next to him. Instead, the shadows serve as a happy reminder of the few days they spent moving their junk into the apartment.

Our _apartment_ , Mats reminds himself. _Home_.

Benni shifts next to him, snuggling up against Mats and letting out a soft snore. Mats smiles fondly as he takes in how the moonlight literally makes Benni’s face glow. His eyes travel to Benni’s hand and even though he knows what he’ll find, his breath still hitches at the sight; the ring, the _engagement ring_ , is shining and glimmering in the light. He can’t think of a more perfect picture to fall asleep to.

 

Julian hates having his beauty sleep interrupted, which is why when his phone rings at an ungodly hour, he’s ready to kill whoever is calling. “What do you _want_?”

“Erik and I were wondering if you’re going to Mats and Benni’s party. We think we should go early to help set up. Well, Erik thinks we should, I’m totally okay with us _not_ doing that,” Matze says far too cheerfully, considering how early it is.

“We have a group chat. Why are you calling me at random hours of the day?” Julian grumbles. Matze is silent, like he’s still expecting a coherent answer. “Ugh, _yes_ , obviously I’m going to the party, and I’m pretty sure they’ll kill us if we don’t come early, so we’d better do that too. Now can you let me sleep?”

There’s a faint conversation before Matze answers. “Wait, one more thing. Erik wants to know if we should meet up before we go there or if we should just meet at their place.”

“First of all, why is Erik with you at 5 in the morning?” Julian thinks about it and quickly adds, “Never mind, never mind. I don’t want to know that. And we’ll meet at their place. And I’m bringing Lena, so I don’t have to deal with you idiots.”

“Well, calling us idiots is kind of rude,” Matze replies, but then he seems to consider it. “Actually, I guess it makes sense. Okay, well see you later then!” Julian doesn’t even bother with a farewell and just hangs up before settling down for a few more hours of sleep.

 

“So, how many people are coming tonight?” Benni asks as he moves around the kitchen gathering various ingredients.

“I’m not sure. Only Manu responded. He said he’d provide drinks. I’m assuming he’ll drag Thomas and Lisa with him, and Christoph will probably tag along also,” Mats grins.

“Why do they all have to be this way?” Benni sighs. “How difficult is it to say, ‘Yes, I’ll be there,’ or ‘Nope, sorry, can’t make it’?”

Mats grabs Benni’s waist and pulls him in. “Not everyone is as perfect as you, Benni. And this is the national team we’re talking about. I’m surprised even one person replied.”

Benni allows himself to relax in Mats’ arms. “I guess you’re right. But still, it is a little inconvenient.”

Mats kisses Benni before letting him go. “Come on, I’ll try to help you bake. We’ll have enough cookies to feed the entire team and extras just for us.”

“You’re going to help me bake?” Benni laughs. “But this kitchen is so beautiful. It would be a shame to burn it down.”

Mats pouts. “That was _one_ time.”

There’s a sudden pounding of footsteps out in the hall accompanied by loud laughter and the rattling of the doorknob. Mats and Benni roll their eyes when they hear Julian’s voice. “Hey, they changed the lock!”

“It looks like you won’t be needing my tragic baking skills after all,” Mats sighs, and unlocks the door. “Wow, what a surprise! Jule, Matze, and Erik! We definitely weren’t expecting you at all.”

“No need to sound so excited,” Erik giggles as they stroll inside.

“I’m offended.” Julian tosses the key in his hand at Benni. “I can’t believe you would change the lock on me. We’re the ones who got the house for you guys, remember?”

“Yeah, well the key words there are ‘for you guys,’” Benni smirks. “Meaning, you people shouldn’t be barging in unannounced all the time.”

“And here we were thinking you two would be grateful for our help,” Matze says, dramatically clutching his chest. “We’ll just go then.”

“So this is what Julian talks about all the time.” A soft voice stops the bickering and everyone turns to see a very pretty, dark-haired girl standing shyly next to Julian.

“Who - oh, hi Lena!” Benni smiles. “How have you been?”

“I’m good. I hope you guys like your apartment. I picked out most of the furnishings. Julian wanted to make it a man-cave, but I thought you guys might like something a little more cozy.”

“Well, that makes sense. We were wondering when these three became so good at interior design,” Mats says. “And is our Julian treating you well?”

Julian groans. “You are _not_ my real parents, oh my god.”

Lena just giggles and replies, “He’s great, as usual.”

“Just great? I’m amazing.” Julian ducks as Lena swings her purse at him playfully.

“And he says _we’re_ sickening.” Matze shakes his head.

“Alright, alright.” Benni glances at the clock. “We only have a few hours to get everything ready, so let’s get to it!”

 

It’s 6:00 pm when people start arriving, which is an hour earlier than Mats and Benni had told them to show up. Luckily, because they know their teammates very well, they had already anticipated this and are mostly prepared when the doorbell starts ringing.

Marco is the first one to turn up outside the door with a bottle of champagne in one hand and Mario in the other. Both of them are dressed up in nice suits with an indecent amount of gel in their hair.

“God damn it. Mario told me this was a black tie event.” Marco groans when he sees Mats’ dark jeans and plaid shirt.

Mario runs his fingers through his gel-covered hair and pulls out his phone. “I swear I saw ‘dress nicely’ in Benni’s email.”

Marco plucks the phone from Mario’s hands and scrolls through the email quickly. “Mario, I’m never trusting you with this stuff anymore. It says 7:00 too.” He hands the phone back to Mario and apologizes to Mats. “Sorry. We could help you with stuff since we’re here so early.”

Mats smiles. “It’s fine. We figured someone would misread the time. You can just relax in the living room.”

He leads the couple through the apartment and into the main living space where Matze and Erik are finishing the final touches to the decorations. Marco raises an eyebrow when he sees Erik fall off a chair and land conveniently into Matze’s arms.

“So, you two -?” Marco makes vague motions with his hands, causing Erik to blush and jump out of Matze’s embrace.

“Ummm,” Matze stammers.

“Yes, they are,” Julian interrupts, rolling his eyes as he places a bowl of chips on the table. “They refuse to admit it, but we’re all aware.” Marco and Mario grin as Erik and Matze turn even redder.

A few minutes later, André arrives with Montana, with Mesut and Per trailing behind him. Glancing around at the slightly bewildered expressions, André quickly explains, “If you’re wondering why we all arrived at the same time, we figured since we all live in London anyway, we would just come together.”

“Where’s Lukas then?” Benni asks, and then he pauses as everyone looks at him incredulously. “Wait, never mind. But Per, where’s your wife?”

“She wanted to stay with the kids,” Per tells him. “The younger one is only seven months old, so she just decided to stay at home. By the way, we all have matches tomorrow, so we’re gonna be leaving before midnight, probably.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Mats says. “But I guess that makes sense.”

“Guess who’s just arrived?” a loud voice calls. “That’s right, it’s the one and only Thomas Müller, accompanied by his gorgeous wife Lisa and his soul brothers, Manuel Neuer and Christoph Kramer! And Christoph’s lovely girlfriend Celina!”

“Thomas.” Lisa rolls her eyes. “Relax a little.”

“You know what he needs? He needs a few drinks. In fact, we _all_ need a few drinks.” Manu brandishes the cooler he’s holding at the small crowd of players.

“If anyone throws up in my apartment -” Benni warns.

“ _Our_ apartment,” Mats corrects, and Benni smiles at that. “But yeah, we’ll kick you out. So watch it.”

“We won’t kick you out,” Benni says hastily. “But we’ll make you clean it and you’ll be on an alcohol ban for the next party.”

The threat is directed at everyone, but mostly Manu, who is already halfway done with his first beer. “What are you talking about? I will be so careful. No alcohol bans for me,” he assures them.

“We won’t be drinking. Arsene would kill us and god knows what Mourinho would do to André,” Mesut adds. “Believe me, I know how Mou can get.”

Miro shows up next with Sylwia, which is expected, and also with Mario Gomez, which is a little stranger. “We both play in Italy, right? It was just more efficient to bring him along with us,” Miro informs them.

Mario Gomez waves awkwardly at everyone until Thomas attacks him with a hug. The hug stuns Mario for a second, but he recovers and ruffles Thomas’ hair. “Hey Thomas. How are the horses doing?” Everyone groans as Thomas launches into a new story about Freddy the pony. The arrival of the Bender twins provides a welcome distraction from Thomas’ incessant rambling.

“You guys don’t have girlfriends or anyone to bring with you?” Julian asks curiously.

“The holidays are about family. We always spend winter break together,” Lars says, looking a little confused. “Who else do we need?”

“I feel like they spend _every_ break together,” Marco mutters. “They’re way too codependent.”

“Well, _we_ spend most of the breaks with each other,” Mario points out.

Marco shrugs. “That’s different.”

The rest of the Bayern players, along with Lukas, arrive in a disorganized manner, already half drunk from the Tollwood Munich festival. A highly disgruntled Philipp, assisted by an amused Claudia, is practically dragging the others along, and even though Lukas is completely sober, he’s not being much of a help.

“Lukas?” Bastian’s speech is slurred and he leans on Lukas to steady himself. “Luki, can you get me a glass of champagne? And a cookie. I want a cookie.” The others have to stifle their laughter at the sight of their captain stumbling over his own feet.

Toni, Jessica, Sami, Lena, and Shkodran arrive a few minutes later. “Sorry, are we late?” Sami asks. “Our flight was a little delayed.”

“You’re actually perfectly on time. Everyone else just got here early because none of them can read properly,” Benni says.

“Shhh, don't be mean.” Mats slips his arm around Benni's waist and presses a kiss to his temple.

Lena smiles at them while Julian pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “You think it’s cute, don’t you? All of you probably think, ‘aw, look at the happy couple.’ Well, you guys don’t have to spend hours stuck with them.”

André rests a hand on Julian’s shoulder to comfort him. “It’s really not that bad.”

Their talk is interrupted by the sudden realization that Kevin and Roman had wandered in at some point without anyone noticing. Before anyone can say hi, there’s another knock at the door. Mats and Benni weave through their crowded living room to greet the new guests.

“Hey Ron-Robert! And, um,” Mats falters. “Sorry, who are you?” There’s a dark-haired man with large eyes and a confused expression standing next to Ron-Robert.

Ron-Robert shrugs, not quite sure either. “I found him wandering around by the staircase. Poor kid looked so lost. He says he knows Thomas.”

“Sí, sí. Thomas is my friend,” the man says, his German heavily accented. He appears to be desperately looking for signs of his friend.

“Javi! My main man!” Thomas shouts delightedly from the living room. He jumps over the couch and scrambles to the door.

“I thought I was your main man,” Manu pouts. “What’s he doing here, anyway?”

“True, who is this?” Benni demands.

“I kind of invited him? I don’t know, he looked all sad with that puppy expression he always has so I just told him to drop by,” Thomas explains.

Lisa sighs. “Thomas, you can’t just invite random people to other people’s houses. Especially if they don’t know each other.” Thomas opens his mouth to argue but Lisa continues, “No, I know Javi is your good friend but you should have at least checked with Mats and Benni first.”

“Mats and Benni, can Javi, my main man, please come to your awesome party?” Thomas asks sheepishly.

Mats makes the mistake of glancing at Javi’s pleading face, which in fact does resemble a puppy, and immediately caves. “Yes, he can stay, Thomas, but you better keep him out of trouble.”

“Javi won’t cause any trouble. Right Javi?” Thomas hands Javi a glass of champagne.

“Claro, claro,” Javi says with a gigantic smile. “Gracias, Mats y Benni.” He starts talking rapidly in Spanish to Thomas who nods and laughs.

“Thomas speaks Spanish?” Mats asks in surprise.

“Nope,” Manuel replies. He walks away without elaborating.

 

The party quiets down after all the initial greetings and catching up are done. The chaotic atmosphere is replaced by hushed conversations and soft laughter. Benni sips his champagne quietly at the breakfast bar, observing the scene in the crowded living room quietly. Mario and Marco are holding hands, leaning against the wall as they talk to André. Everyone always laughs at André for being the ever-present third wheel, but Benni smiles when he realizes that the three look happiest when they’re together; best friends and lovers, two different types of love in one group. Lukas and Bastian are cuddling on the couch, and it’s a relief for everyone, especially them, that they’re finally together after all these years. Thomas is sitting crossed-legged on the floor with a circle of listeners around him, all laughing as he tells another ridiculous story. Matze and Erik are sitting together, hiding in the corner of the room, hoping that nobody notices their entangled fingers, but of course Julian has already seen. This time though, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he hugs Lena closer to him and laughs as she whispers a joke into his ear. When Benni notices Lars and Sven sitting by themselves talking animatedly to each other, he thinks that maybe Marco did have a point, but they look so happy that he can't bring himself to question it.

“What are you thinking about?” Mats sits down next to Benni and smiles warmly at him. “You always have this certain look on your face when your mind wanders off.”

“I was just thinking about how perfect everything is. Look at everyone. I’m almost afraid that it’ll just end,” Benni says softly.

“What will end?” Mats asks, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Well, everything seemed to happen so suddenly. Lukas and Basti, Matze and Erik, even you and me. It’s like everything happened in Brazil, in 2014. I feel like it could all just suddenly go away too.” Benni bites his lip and looks down. He’s waiting for Mats to laugh and say he’s worrying for nothing, but instead, Mats takes his hand and lifts his chin up.

“I sometimes wake up and think Brazil was all just a dream, so I get where you’re coming from. But think about it. I don’t think everything suddenly happened in Brazil. We didn’t fall in love out of nowhere, and I didn’t just give that ring to you on a whim. It’s been in the making for _years_ , Benni. I feel like we just needed a little push, something to open our eyes, and that’s what Brazil was. And even if we didn’t have Brazil, I think, I know, it would have happened sooner or later.” He brushes his thumb lightly across Benni’s cheek. “I don’t know how things are gonna be different in the future. But I do know I love you, Benni, and that’s never gonna change. I promise.”

Benni smiles, his eyes shining with emotion. “I know, Mats. I love you too. And I always will.”

 

“Luki?” Bastian mumbles. He regrets drinking so much. His head is spinning too much to be able to fully appreciate these few hours with Lukas. “Do you have to leave tonight? Can’t you stay?”

Lukas sighs. “You know I have a match to play tomorrow. Or rather, to sit on the bench for.” He doesn’t bother to hide the bitterness in his voice. “I shouldn’t even be here now.”

“Well.” Bastian kisses Lukas. “I’m glad you’re here. I love you.”

Lukas laughs. “You’re ridiculously sappy when you get drunk. But I love you too, silly.”

 

Matthias rubs little circles on Erik’s hand, feeling how much softer Erik’s hands are compared to his. _I could get used to this_ , he thinks to himself when Erik leans against him, the two of them not really talking, just enjoying the atmosphere of the party and each other’s presence. He takes a sip of the champagne, feeling the warmth from the alcohol spread across his chest. Across the room, Matthias spots Mats talking with Benni, smiles spreading slowly across their faces and then finally leaning in to kiss each other.

“I’m glad they worked things out,” Erik mutters. “Remember how they were before Brazil?”

“I can’t believe they’re actually going to get married.” Matthias shakes his head in disbelief.

Erik laughs softly and squeezes his hand. “We better be invited.”

“Please,” Matze scoffs. “We better be the best men.”

Erik is quiet for the next few minutes. Matthias knows that his friend is holding something back, but he waits patiently for Erik to pluck up the courage to say it. “Hey Matze?”

“Hm?”

“I really like you,” Erik blurts out, the words blending together so it sounds like “Ireallylikeyou.”

“Well, that’s good, because I really like you too,” Matze says. Erik grins and plants a kiss on his cheek. They return to sitting in comfortable silence. _Yeah, I definitely could get used to this_.

 

André excuses himself, saying something about wanting to go talk to Montana, leaving Mario and Marco alone.

“Benni and Mats are smart. A little hiding spot between Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen? Genius,” Marco says.

“You getting ideas?” Mario teases lightly.

“Maybe.” Marco’s smirk is quickly replaced by a frown. “I miss you in Dortmund.”

Mario sighs. They try to avoid the topic, but sometimes it just can’t be ignored. “I miss you too, Marco. I miss you so much.”

“You’re happy in Munich.” Mario can’t tell if it’s a question or a statement.

“I’m happy. Really happy, Marco. Playing for Bayern, it’s been amazing,” Mario admits. Marco nods like it’s the answer he expected. “But Marco, I promise you, I’m never ever as happy as I am when I’m with you.”

“As long as you’re happy, Sunny. That’s all that matters to me.” Marco, despite his trashy hairdos and his usually sarcastic smile, is totally and completely sincere.

If it’s even possible, Mario finds himself falling even more in love. “You’re the greatest, Marco.”

Marco grins, and he’s back to his usual cocky self. “I know.”

 

11:00 comes around and Per reluctantly begins rounding up the players who have to return to London.

“Already?” Bastian cringes when he hears how whiny his voice sounds. He and Lukas both stand up and hug each other, not wanting to let go.

“Pretend it’s already the new year and give me a kiss,” Lukas manages to joke despite their obvious distress. Bastian kisses him and the entire room claps and cheers. Even though it’s been a while since they officially told the team, everyone is still overjoyed that the ten years of waiting are finally over.

“Happy New Year, Luki.”

“Happy New Year, Basti.”

 

Five minutes before midnight, Mats stands on the coffee table in a very Jogi-esque manner. He raises his champagne glass for a toast.

“Where do I even start with 2014?” Mats begins.

“Well, the World Cup was slightly important,” Thomas calls out.

“Thanks, Thomas. I was trying to go for something deeper,” Mats sighs.

“You’ve got 4 minutes, you'll have to make it quick,” Benni quietly reminds Mats.

The room is quiet, waiting for Mats to continue with his speech. It takes a moment for him to gather his thoughts before he takes a deep breath and continues. “I doubt any of us will forget Brazil this year. Everything that happened there, all the new friendships, the new relationships, it seems like anything that could happen, did happen. But I don't want it to end there. I want to keep the Brazil feeling alive. So, here’s to not letting it end. Here’s to 2015.”

The small living room erupts in cheers. Mats finishes just in time, because the countdown begins a moment later. In unison, everyone shouts out the remaining seconds of the year. “5...4...3...2...1…”

Julian, Erik, and Matze take a handful of gold confetti and throw it into the air as the clock strikes midnight. “Happy New Year!”

Matthias watches all the couples in the room share their first kiss of the year: Mats and Benni, Marco and Mario, Thomas and Lisa, Julian and Lena, Philipp and Claudia, Toni and Jessica, Christoph and Celina, and Sami and Lena. Matze shifts awkwardly next to Erik, unsure if he should -

“Oh come here, you idiot.” Erik grabs Matthias and pulls him in for a kiss. Julian glances over in time to see it happen, and he lets out a cheer and dumps the remaining confetti over the two blushing boys.

Mats grins down at Benni as he shakes confetti out of his hair. “2015. It’s a whole new adventure. You sure you’re ready for this?”

Benni kisses him again. “As long as I’m spending it with you, I’m ready.”

**Author's Note:**

> So here is another holiday fic. It is a continuation of our Christmas fic, but this can be read as a standalone fic as well.
> 
> Now that we've finished writing these, we're 100 percent returning to writing 1000 Euros: the Journey fic, which we're really sorry about the lack of updates on! We'll do our best to get going on that, we're just trying to make the final as great and epic as we can.
> 
> As always, comments and feedback are welcome! Thanks for reading! :)


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